Leif

Every word.

So much for our CL crisis; looking like we'll genuinely finish in first, presuming Atletico don't pick up form after this game.

Stunning and deserved Atletico goal. No doubt the best of the night.

Perotti with a touch so perfect that Da Vinci would be impressed.

Atletico are on an entirely different level to Roma. It says a lot about how bad we were vs. Roma, and how they weren't spectacular themselves. They aren't great. Going forward, Roma are as predictable as we are - we simply have such outrageous quality in Hazard that even in knowing how he'll move, you can't stop him. But Roma. Painful lack of imagination. Lack of pace. The team rarely counter-attacks at full throttle together; they wait for Atletico to regain their shape, then try and break them down (the absolute worst way to try and deal with Atletico.) As always, Manolas is braindead. It says a lot, even more-so, that Atletico look like they should've scored 10 goals this game. This is an ultra-defensive team. Carving Roma open again and again. Gonalons is certainly not good enough for Roma to my surprise. Gerson needs many more games. Dzeko is always good for Roma. Kolarov the best player for Roma. Pellegrini is a weak player, in all aspects; only bought out of sentimentality, which is insane. Torres was on fire for Atletico most of the game. Thomas their best player though in my opinion.

I suggest watching Roma tonight, just to see how Gerson does. He's finally coming into his own as a winger, and there's a slither of a chance he could end up as good as the best wingers around today. Salah was a big loss for Roma, and his bloated stats make it look like an even worse loss, but Gerson is far more all rounded, and all he needs is complete confidence in himself to take on multiple players at once - and he'll succeed.

Talk is made of Christensen being the next Terry, but I think Azpilicueta has more than proven he is the heir. Excited for him to hit 200 and then hopefully 300 league appearances for us.

Every genius (Conte) has a dash of insanity

Just why. Why use all of our players who could use a rest? Why not change formation, have just 1 forward up top (Pedro, Willian, doesn't matter) and replace Hazard / & this Morata sub with the likes of Drinkwater, Sterling etc. in midfield? Conte is great, but too often are his subs questionable. Just imagine Morata getting injured now that Qara have nothing to lose.

Just saw the next Monaco-PSG game billed as 'mecca'. Nope. Somewhat depressing that Ligue 1 is already a 1-horse race again. More interesting is Monaco/Marseille/Lyon competing for the other places, and seeing what sort of young talent they can churn out. I wish everyone would collectively agree to name whoever finishes 2nd as the unofficial league-winner. PSG are just completely non-French in how they run the club, and they offer nothing positive to the footballing landscape.

Games like this, we do play how we have for many seasons now, and we really do not resemble Juventus under Conte. I want more identity.

Fuck yeah, love sweaty penalties against small teams. It's like walking up to someone half your height and stealing their jacket or something stupid.

Remember Fabregas playing as a number 9 essentially for Barcelona? Would be fun trying that here, even with his legs gone. Especially if we had Lampard type players in midfield for him to lay the ball off for. Hazard in this instance on the wing would be fine with me considering he'd be getting inch-perfect through-balls from him 20 times in the game. Maybe i'll save it for Football Manager.

& in case http://www.navixsport.com/sport.php?id=3227&page=nsslksksslkaxslksyy

I felt a pang of shock to see Hazard misplace a pass there. Which says everything about his playmaking ability.

I can't remember which header of his it was this season, but (apparently) 1 of them has been rated as the highest leap for a scored header in Premier League history. He is indeed special.

Resting Morata was a must. His psychology has a pattern, and having scored vs. West Brom and probably at least 1 or 2 vs Qarabag, I've no doubt subconsciously he'd feel 'dried up' for goals next game, vs Liverpool. This is about keeping his mind fresh as much as his body. Really glad to see him omitted. Really confused to see Hazard start. I understand he's what gives our team rhythm and direction, but come on. A top club should be able to more-than-cope with Hazard getting a rest. No point in playing Fabregas either. We don't need a pass-master for this game, and tiring him out does nothing for us. He doesn't need match fitness. All in all, stupidly overpowered lineup which'll deplete our players. Not necessary one bit.

There's a pure pleasure in me thinking whenever i watched him play for the youth teams, 'This guy is lost. He's the most distracted player out there.', and then him becoming what he is now. It somehow adds to his brilliance, being doubted by a bitter harsh critic & proving him wrong. I don't know how i didn't recognise his good qualities. I love his game now. So much. He's everything a classic centre back should be. He plays like the greatest to play the game did. He is orgasmic. I get excited before games, like tonight's one, just to see him play. He's only 21, one of the best in his position in the league, and he's ours, from our youth system

Real/Juve/Bayern are all more beatable this season than any of their seasons in the past 5 years. Getting them is no threat. They play straightforward football and i'd have confidence our more limited players would deal with them effectively via hoof-ball. PSG and Barcelona would play us off the field i fear; they'd simply retain possession far longer than the above teams. I don't have faith that those same limited players can play 75 minutes of pure positioning and well-timed tackles, with accurate pings up to Hazard/Morata. It's asking too much at this point.

Do genuinely expect to steamroll them. Roma lack experience in the CL; Atletico are in crisis mode. We are Chelsea; we don't struggle in the CL. We've already had enough bad results - no way it continues vs. these farmers.

When Madrid were targeting De Gea he was a luxury. Since then, Madrid have somewhat bombed, and I think they'd recognise Courtois is the more worthy player. At least £50m, surely. The board wouldn't let him walk for free; they'll sooner offer him £350k-£400k a week.

With cautious optimism my gut tells me we'll get £75m for him if/when. I then think we'll buy a goalkeeper for £40m-£45m, who should only cost £30m. Chelsea, my club

Once again, he doesn't give a shit about the club, and once again, there are many, many goalkeepers barely a shade under his ability - we should've always been excited at the idea of cashing in on a 50m+ goalkeeper (presuming there's no intention from the board to splash out on 2-3 B-rate players again instead of buying a superstar.) Considering a replacement would be very costly in the current climate, we should want at least 65m - but who needing a goalkeeper is willing to pay that? (Nobody to my knowledge.) He probably want to leave on a freebie so his dear Atletico can afford him. Considering the top 5 leagues & not the potentially great prospects in the lower ones, instantly the following few come to mind - Allsson (getting better every few games, despite already being one of the best around), Strakosha (he's either very, very hot - or quite cold game to game. He's 22), and Oblak (best choice in my opinion; reminds me most of Cech). In order I'd go for - Oblak; Alisson; Strakosha. Strak is a wild card. What we need is a dependable goalkeeper more-so than a remarkable one, and Oblak certainly fits that.

I think the best way to sum up Moura is to say he's a mix of both Willian & Oscar's less-than-great qualities. He gets himself into dangerous areas like Oscar, but hardly scores. He dribbles in a far more dazzling manner to Willian, but like Willian, he ends up a predictable player once those dribbles are complete. I'm basing this off other seasons, I haven't seen him in a while. I think his good qualities were his speed, and...the fact he was Brazilian, which as always gives the impression that the player has more potential than they really do (just look at Gabigol).

Anyone know how well Tielemans is playing this season? He's a very hyped player, and I thought we could use him a few years ago in a sort of Xabi Alonso role. Checking WhoScored, Monaco are 3-0 down, every other player with a rating hovering around 5.5, and yet Tiele is up at 6.4-or-so. I know it's just WhoScored, but I've never seen 1 player with a rating like that when the rest of the team is bombing.